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DELIVERED 



At Geneva, 27th November, 1828, 



UEFORE AN ASSEMBLY, FROM WHICH, ON THAT DAY, WAS 

FORMED 



THE DOMESTIC 



WBMSBOVWStWiiJL SSSSJSS 1 ^ 



WESTERN PARTS OF THE STATE OF NEW-YORK, 



BY MYRON HOLLEY, ESQ. 



PRTNTED BY JAMES BOGERT. 
1628. 



AT the first Meeting of " THE DOMESTIC HORTICULTURAL SOCI- 
ETY of the Western parts of llie State of New-York," held at Geneva, 27tb 
November, 1828— 

RESOL VED, That the thanks of the Society be tendered to Mr. Holley, for 

his eloquent and instructive INITIATORY ADDRESS; and that a copy of 

the same be requested for publication, under the direction of the Committee 

of Managers of the Society. 

Extract from the Minutes. 

ANDREW GLOVER. 

Recording Secretary. 






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4. 



ADDRESS, Ac. 



Friends and Fellow- Citizens : 

THE impulse which has brought together, at this 
place, so intelligent and respectable an assembly, affords 
a happy omen for the Institution here intended to be 
formed. We*are now mftlung the first attempt, in this 
7t4C vicinity, to associate samuibers ' m the work of informing, 
refining and extending a taste for Horticulture. And, 
while it is natural for all of us who delight in the beau- 
tiful and useful productions of the garden, and the or- 
chard, to rejoice in this public manifestation of favour 
for the cultivation of them, it may be both agreeable 
and appropriate to introduce the more specific business 
of this Address, by some references to the past. 

Forty years ago the country which we now occu- 
py in such full and secure enjoyment, presented a wide- 
ly different scene. Then, the wealth of nature, so pro- 
fusely lavished upon this goodly region, lay all seclu- 
ded aud unvalued. In vain our plains teemed with fer- 
tility, our streams rippled over their declivities, and our 
lakes stretched their beautiful surfaces along the most 
safe and accessible shores. The rude and unbroken 
forest ; the wild and lonely waters, covered and con- 
cealed every thing, and the whole land was shared by 
the deer, the bear, the wolf and the panther, with the 



savage man, who hunted, and fished, and fought, and 
suffered in it, but who could not properly be deemed ei- 
ther to possess, or to enjoy it. 

The Fathers of the Genesee Country are not yet 
mentioned with the same emphatic respect which accom- 
panies every allusion to the venerable pilgrims of Ply- 
mouth ; but, by their high practical virtues, by their 
brave enterprise, their undergoing; fortitude, and their 
prevailing faith, they proved themselves to be truly de- 
rived from the same stock. 

Since the date of their bold advance into the wil- 
derness, we have become so familiar with new settle- 
ments, growing ^prosperously^ and s ecure , that we can 
hardly estimate the disregard of ease, and all the soft 
enjoyments of life, which the^inust necessarily have , "»*^ , » 
entertained. For, since that period, what transforma- 
tions have we witnessed ! How far beyond us the tide 
of cultivated population has flowed ! How many new 
and powerful states have been founded, in place of the 
gloomy woods, and their fierce possessors ! Then, the 
Indian title to our country was first extinguished, though 
it still remained in full and acknowledged force, to an 
extensive territory between us and the nearest limits of 
civilization. Then, a foreign nation, recently at war 
with ours, was in possession of all the military posts 
within our limits, as well as its own, upon our north- 
ern frontier ; where it kept strong ^garrisons, and 
maintained an intercourse with the Indian tribes which 
inflamed their barbarous propensities towards our citi- 
zens. Aud the Indians themselves, having been array- 
ed on the side of our enemy, in the same war, and hav- 
ing seen their crops destroyed, their orchards cut down, 
and their dwellings given to the flames by our success- 



5 

ful soldiery, were unusually prone to vengeance. Then, 
too, our own government was not able to interpose the 
ample shield of its established power, for the protection 
of the dissevered settlements of its remote interior ; for it 
was tottering with debility, and showed frightful symp- 
toms of dissolution under the old confederation. 

Such were some of the repulsive circumstances un- 
der which the small band of our adventurous predeces- 
sors, in the fall of 1788, and, in this very sjwt, first 
planted that broad and spreading tree of life, which, by 
so many and such vigorous branches, now adorns and 
gladdens the land. With what unshrinking resolution, 
with what bold hope, did they sustain themselves ! — 
The character of their,, undertaking, in their own esti- 
mate, included much privation and personal hazard. — 
These they met with wary prudence and manly firm- 
ness. Continual and unmitigated labour they expected, 
and cheerfully encountered. They were often subject- 
ed to hunger without food ; to sickness without the aid 
of nurse or physician, and to bloodshed from the sav- 
age. But they had great and beneficent objects, and 
they succeeded. The civil and social good which they 
intended, is made certain. And though they had to 
struggle much, and to endure much, they also enjoyed 
much. 

No associations among men create stronger ties of 
friendly regard than those which necessarily exist be- 
tween the first adventurers into new and dangerous set- 
tlements. And the sincerity and constancy of this re- 
gard, in respect to real enjoyment, often makes up, and 
more than makes up, for all the loss of ease, and luxu- 
ry, and formal courtesy, which are usually found in 
long established, populous, and wealthy communities. 



This was eminently the joy of our predecessors. But 
this was not all their joy. Their spirits were perpetu- 
ally refreshed by glowing anticipations of the future. — 
They knew the importance of their exertions. They 
laboured, and suffered, in perfect assurance that they 
were laying the foundation of the great blessings which 
we enjoy, and of yet greater blessings to come. And 
like affectionate Fathers, they rejoiced in the foreseen 
joy of their descendants. 

And now, if in the land of their hopes, their trials, 
and their toils, the most useful and creative arts have 
set up their dominion, and are already exhibiting their 
most desirable trophies : if Agriculture has placed her 
axes, her ploughs and her flails into, the strongest hands 
for our advancement, and made the fertility of our plains 
to fill innumerable granaries : if Manufacture, with 
her wheels, her lathes and her spindles, has already 
peopled the banks of our streams, and is rapidly draw- 
ing all the weight of their waters into our service : if 
Internal Trade, with her hosts of active, clear-sighted 
and diligent agents, is filling our lakes with her various 
aud ingenious craft : Then, while with devoted hom- 
age, and pious gratitude, we ascribe the praise and glo- 
ry of these results to our Heavenly Father, let us also 
often recall, to the most respectful memory, the distin- 
guished men who first opened the great theatre on which 
they are displayed. 

Holding such views of the character and deserts of 
those who have gone before us, and desiring the contin- 
ued advancement of the country which they left us, so 
exuberant in the bounties of physical nature, and so re- 
plete with all the substantial comforts, and many of the 
elegancies of life, some of us have supposed that a 



Horticultural Society might be rendered one of the 
means of its further improvement. And, conscious that 
such an institution would increase our own enjoyment 
of one of the most appropriate and delightful of human 
occupations, we gave the notice, which has been the 
occasion of this assembly. 

Horticulture is the most ancient of the useful arts. — 
It was the great employment assigned to man by his 
omniscient Creator, before guilt had invaded his heart, 
or sorrow had wrinkled his brow. In the first fresh- 
ness of the world, as it was called into being, clothed 
with every ornament of which it was susceptible, when 
every herb and tree that grew upon it, every bird that 
flew in its air, every fish that swam in its waters, and 
every animal that walkeil upon its earth, was pronoun- 
ced, by perfect Wisdom, to be "very good," then a 
Garden was the crown of its attractions, and "to dress 
it, and to keep it," was an employment worthy of its 
only rational inhabitants. 

An employment suitable to the pure enjoyments of 
Paradise before the fall, has always been esteemed use- 
ful and desirable since. And it is probable that Adam, 
after he was sent forth from the garden of Eden, to till 
the ground, and had sought to regain the favour of his 
Maker by repentance and submission, still cherished a 
fond attachment to it. It is certain that a taste for it 
has been nearly the uniform inheritance of his children. 
For, in every age, those nations which have been most 
conspicuous for knowledge, and power, and refinement, 
have been most remarkable for their love of Horticulture. 

During their Egyptian bondage the Jews were accus- 
tomed to an abundance of garden vegetables : for, in 
the book of Numbers, we find them, in the wilderness, 



complaining for the want of " the cucumbers, and the 
melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the gar- 
licks," which they were wont to eat in Egypt. If the 
Jews, in their servitude, were habituated to the enjoy- 
ment of these articles, which have always been among 
the most prized of garden esculents in warm climates, 
we may reasonably infer that the state of Egyptian 
Horticulture was far advanced. Moses himself, in set- 
ting forth the attractions of the land of Canaan, for the 
purpose of more effectually exciting his nation to obey 
God, represents it as producing vines, fig-trees, and 
pomegranates, plants of the garden ; as well as wheat, 
barley, oil, and honey. And he directs, that, when 
they shall have planted all manner of trees, for food, 
they shall not partake of their fruits until the fifth year, 
the fruits of the fourth year being devoted to the Lord, 
and the earlier fruits not being permitted to ripen ; doubt- 
less for the benefit of the trees. 

In later times the Jews are represented, in the scrip- 
tures, as having delighted themselves with eating in 
gardens, under bowers and shady places. And the 
most striking images by which they expressed a state 
of great national security and prosperity, are drawn 
from a garden, where every one ate and drank under his 
own vine and fig-tree, with none to molest him. In the 
Song of Solomon, the wisest of men is addressed as 
having a thousand vineyards, with two hundred persons 
to keep their fruits ; and as dwelling in the gardens. — 
In the first book of Chronicles, those who wrought fine 
linen, and potters employed by the king, are mentioned 
as having lodged in his gardens. 

The 7th book of Homer's Odyssey contains a beau- 
tiful description of the garden of the good and hospit- 



able king Alcinous, of which the following is Pope's 
translation : 

" CLOSE to the gates a spacious garden lies, 

From storms defended and inclement skies. 

Four acres was th' allotted space of ground, 

Fenc'd with a green enclosure all around. 

Tall thriving trees confessed the fruitful mould ; 

The redd'ning apple ripens here to gold. 

Here the blue fig with luscious juice o'erflows, 

With deeper red the full pomegranate glows. 

The branch here bends beneath the weighty pear. 

And verdant olives flourish round the year. 

The balmy spirit of the western gale 

Eternal breathes, on fruits untaught to fail : 

Each dropping pear, a following pear supplies : 

On apples apples, figs on figs arise : 

The same mild season gives the blooms to blow. 

The buds to harden, and the fruits to grow. 
" Here order'd vines, in equal ranks appear, 

With all th' united labors of the year : 

Some to unload the fertile branches run ; 

Some dry the black'ning clusters in the sun ; 

Others to tread the liquid harvest join ; 

The groaning presses foam with floods of wine. 

Here are the vines in early flower descried, 

Here grapes discolour'd on the sunny side. 

And there in autumn's richest purple dy'd. 

Beds of all various herbs, for ever green, 

In beauteous order terminate the scene. 

Two plenteous fountains the whole prospect crowned : 

This through the garden leads its streams around, 

Visits each plant, and waters all the ground." 

But the hanging gardens of Babylon, if they were 
not more fruitful than that of Alcinous, were vastly more 
expensive and more picturesque. And what makes them 
more interesting is the spirit of courtesy in which they 
were constructed. Nebuchadnezzar made them to 

B 



gratify the taste of his wife, who being by birth a Mede. 
and accustomed to the view of mountainous regions, did 
not perfectly enjoy the rural prospects of the level coun- 
try around her husband's capital. These gardens were 
four hundred feet square, and consisted of terraces rais- 
ed one above another to the height of three hundred 
and fifty feet. These terraces were ascended by steps 
ten feet wide, and supported by massy arches upon 
arches of solid masonry, the whole being surrounded 
and strengthened by a wall twenty-two feet thick. The 
floor of each terrace was made impervious to water, and 
covered with a sufficient depth of soil to support the 
largest trees, and the innumerable shrubs and plants 
with which it was embellished. And upon the upper 
terrace was a reservoir, which was filled with water 
from the river by an ingenious engine, of such dimen- 
sions as to supply the moisture required by all the 
terraces. 

Among the Greeks, the city of Athens, more illus- 
trious than any other city upon which the sun has ever 
shone, for the immortal models of art and genius which 
she has furnished the human race, was surrounded by 
gardens and groves. Without her walls, but near them, 
were those of the Lyceum, of the Cynosarges, of the 
the Academy, of Epicurus, and of Plato. In the tran- 
quil and elegant retirement of these scenes, the most 
virtuous and venerable of the heathen sages successive- 
ly received, and imparted, all the lights of ancient phi- 
losophy. 

The Romans were peculiarly fond of gardens. In 
their cities the common people used to have represent- 
ations of them in their windows. And several of their 
noble families derived their names from their cultiva- 



11 

tion of certain kinds of garden vegetables ; as the Fabii, 
Lentuli, and Lactucini. So attached to gardens were 
the lowest populace of Rome, that in the inimitably 
artful speech of Antony over the body of Caesar, as 
presented to us by Shakspeare, the last degree of in- 
dignation is excited in their minds against his murder- 
ers, by the generous disposition which they were told 
Csesar had made of his gardens in his will. Antony 
assures them, " Moreover he hath left you all his walks, 
his private arbours, and new planted orchards, on this 
side Tiber : — he hath left them you, and to your heirs 
for ever, common pleasures, to walk abroad and recre- 
ate yourselves." Upon this they could no longer be 
restrained, but resolved, at once, to burn the traitors' 
houses. 

The most ancient of the Roman gardens referred to 
in history, was that of Tarquin the Proud, in which 
that monster is said to have intimated his intention to 
destroy the people of Grabii, by striking off the heads 
of the flowers : from which I think it reasonable to in- 
fer, that he did not make the garden. But the most 
magnificent of the Roman gardens were those of Lucul- 
lus, which he made when the power of that empire was 
greatest, and her wealth and luxury the most conspicu- 
ous. In these gardens artificial elevations of earth were 
made to a surprising height ; expensive buildings were 
projected into the sea, and large lakes were excavated 
upon land. The enormous cost of these works Lucul- 
lus was able to defray by the spoils of Asia, in which 
he had been a most successful commander. Plutarch 
represents him as having possessed eminent military 
and civil merits, and as having a profound veneration 
for Grecian philosophy, in which he was deeply pro- 



licient ; though that distinguished biographer regarded, 
as frivolous amusements, his sumptuous villas, his 
walks, his paintings, his statues, and his other works 
of art. Lucullus was a literary, accomplished, and op- 
ulent epicure, and, at the same time, a sincere patriot. 
For while, on the one hand, he delighted in all the of- 
ferings of the muses, and enjoyed them, in the highest 
degree, with Cicero and many of their other favorites, 
whom he was accustomed to entertain at his Tusculan 
villa, with all the dainties of Roman life; on the other 
hand he was the most cordial and efficient friend of Ca- 
to, in the senate-house, in all his measures to preserve 
the commonwealth against the ambitious designs of 
Pompey and Caesar. 

In the later days of Rome, the elegant and polish- 
ed Pliny was devoted to his gardens ; and it is proba- 
ble that his Tuscan villa exhibited the most tasteful and 
beautiful, if not the most costly garden of all antiquity. 
Situated in the midst of a vast natural amphitheatre, at 
the base of the Appeniue mountains, and surrounded 
with hills covered with lofty and venerable woods, with 
the river Tiber and all its navigation running through 
the middle of the prospect, it had every external beau- 
ty of scenery which art and nature could bestow. And 
within its fences it was adorned with all the trees, and 
shrubs, and flowers, and herbs, and walks, and hedg- 
es, and porticos, and summer houses, and alcoves, and 
seats, and basins, and artificial fountains, that were 
then acceptable to the most cultivated love of rural re- 
finement. 

The taste for gardens, in modern times, has not 
been less universal, nor less operative. They are fre- 
quently mentioned in the history of the earliest monkish 



IS 

establishments, and religious houses, during the dark 
ages. Italy and France have been long conspicuous for 
their general and ostentatious Horticulture. They are 
more celebrated for their cultivation of delicious fruits, 
for their ornamental and shady walks, and their various 
and refreshing artificial fountains of water, than for the 
excellence of their culinary vegetables. 

Holland and Flanders were very early distinguish- 
ed, as they still are, for their love of plants and flow- 
ers, in which they have probably excelled all the other 
people of Europe. Previous to the sixteenth century 
exotics were more cultivated there than auy where else, 
and their gardens contained a great variety of rare 
plants. At that early day they carried on a considera- 
ble commerce in these articles. They imported plants 
from the Levant and both the Indies, and exported 
them to England, France and Germany. Before the 
time of Henry the eighth, the London market was sup- 
plied with culinary herbs and roots from Holland. And 
during many reigns afterwards the English kings ob- 
tained their gardeners from that country. 

The soil of Great Britain was considered unfit for 
the finest productions of Horticulture till within the last 
century. It was always unrivalled for the freshness 
and beauty of its verdure. But, it has been known on- 
ly within the three or four last generations to have paid 
great attention to the ornamental cultivation of its plea- 
sure grounds, or the profitable produce of its kitchen 
and fruit gardens. Since the general introduction of 
forcing houses, at the beginning of the eighteenth cen- 
tury, her noblemen, and other men of taste and opu- 
lence, have been wonderfully successful in the finest 
arts of cultivation. Now there is said to be more cer- 



14? 

(ainty of finding pine apples, of domestic growth, in 
the London market, every day in the year, than there 
is either in Jamaica or Calcutta. 

The total number of vegetable species, not indigen- 
ous, in England, introduced previous to the accession 
of George the 4th, is said to have been 11,970 ; of 
which the first 47 were brought in before and during 
the reign of Henry 8th ; 533 during that of Elizabeth ; 
578 during the reign of the two Charles', and Crom- 
well ; 44 in that of James 2nd ; 298 in that of William 
and Mary ; 230 in that of Anne ; 182 in that of George 
1st ; 1770 in that of George 2nd ; and 6756 in that of 
George the 3d. 

The civilized nations of the earth are now vieing 
with each other in Horticultural establishments. And 
since the discoveries of Linneus, a new and most valu- 
able object has been extensively connected with many 
of them, which has given them additional claims to in- 
telligent favour : I allude to the promotion of Botanic 
science. Europe has numerous public amd private gar- 
dens, in which the splendours of Horticulture are most 
happily combined with this enchanting pursuit. 

In our own country there have been several attempts, 
by individuals, and by associations, to effect the same 
agreeable combination. These attempts are exceeding- 
ly laudable, and, if duly encouraged, will ensure ex- 
tensive and lasting benefits. They are like to be es- 
sentially aided by the United States' government. — 
For, during the last year, we were told by one of its 
public functionaries, that the President had much at 
heart the introduction into our country, from abroad, of 
plants of every description not already known among 
us, whether used as food., or for purposes connected 



15 

with the arts, through the agency of our ministers, con- 
suls, and other public agents in foreign countries. 

Ornamental gardening, in its broadest range, has at 
one time or another been made to include almost every 
class of objects, both in nature and art, from the asso- 
ciation of which pleasure could naturally be derived. 
Milton describes the garden of Eden as containing, 
u in narrow room, nature's whole wealth, yea more, a 
heaven on earth." 

But the more restricted and essential idea of a gar- 
den, is that of a place where, by the aid of cultivation, 
vegetable productions may be reared more excellent in 
kind, and more pleasing in distribution, than the ordi- 
nary growth of nature. Beauty and use are both in- 
cluded, though they may both exist, in an almost infi- 
nite diversity of relative proportions, according to the 
diversities of taste, and skill, and means in cultivators. 

The direct objects of gardening, in the more restrict- 
ed definition, besides earth and water, are trees, and 
shrubs, and fruits, and flowers, and esculent vegetables, 
with the best modes of propagating, nourishing, arrang- 
ing, improving, and preserving them. To these ob- 
jects the manuring, mixing and working of soils, the 
construction of fences, walks, terraces, quarters, bor- 
ders, trellises, arbours and implements, are every where 
subsidiary ; while, in climates subject to frost, the wall, 
the hot-bed and the green-house are valuable and agree- 
able auxiliaries. 

The successful conduct of the business of a garden 
requires labour, vigilance and knowledge. Ever since 
the sentence of the Most High subjected man to earn 
his bread in the sweat of his face, labour has been the 
appointed means of his advancement and happiness. — 



16 

Without it, it is impossible for us to have healthy bod- 
ies, or cheerful minds. And the worth of all the valu- 
able possessions which we acquire, is measured by the 
amount of it which they respectively involve. It is not 
wonderful, therefore, that much of it is essential to the 
most desirable Horticulture. Though it is not merely 
gross corporeal labour that is required. 

" Strength may wield the ponderous spade, 
May turn the clod, and wheel the compost home : 
But elegance, chief grace the garden shows, 
And most attractive, is the fair result 
Of thought, the creature of a polish'd mind." 

And labour is not more indispensable thau vigilance 
—keen- sighted, unremitted vigilance. Many of the 
nurselings of the garden are so tender and so exposed to 
accidents, for months together, that an hour's neglect 
may lead to cureless ruin, and disappoint hopes long 
and fondly cherished. 

But, without knowledge, labour and vigilance are 
vain. The accomplished gardener must know the 
best manner and time ol performing a great multiplici- 
ty of manual operations peculiar to each season of the 
year, all of which are essential to his success, and the 
knowledge of which cannot be obtained without much 
experience and observation. Every direct and every 
subsidiary object of his pursuit demands care, and re- 
flection, and knowledge. He must not only know the 
modes and times of propagating trees, and shrubs, and 
flowers, of which there are several already understood, 
as applicable to many of them ; the proper use of the 
pruning knife, so essential to some of his highest pur- 
poses ; the various means of improving the flavour and 
size of fruits, which will be acknowledged to have been 



11 

most successfully introduced, wheu it is remembered 
that the largest and most delicious apples upon our ta- 
bles have been derived from the austere English crab ; 
the measures most effective towards meliorating the less 
esteemed culinary vegetables, which he will not consid- 
er unimportant when he learns that some of them, now 
the most savoury and nutrition b, were, in their uncul- 
tivated state, of but little claim to notice, such as the 
aspai*agus, the celery, the cauliflower, the potato ; the 
charming art of managing flowers, by which the single 
and almost scentless blossoms of nature have been 
swelled into much greater compass, and new varieties 
of beauty, and filled with an in tenser fragrance : but 
the accomplished gardener should understand the best 
Methods of acclimating plants not indigenous, which 
may contribute, prodigiously, to embellishment and use, 
and which involves the knowledge of botanical geogra 
phy. And he should have all that science which may 
be conducive to the utmost possible perfection of every 
subject of his care. To this end chemistry, natural 
history, and botany are necessary. 

The productions of the garden are affected, either 
for evil or for good, in the different stages of their growth. 
by the most minute and the most magnificent objects in 
nature, by the bugs, by the worms, by the flies, by the 
birds, by the clouds, by the air, by the sun. The 
knowledge of these objects, with all their means of fa- 
vour or annoyance, and the superadded knowledge of 
all the other objects and means by which the effects of 
these, so far as they are good, may be promoted, and 
so far as they are evil, may be prevented, should be 
embraced within the scope of his acquirements. The 
science of Horticulture, therefore, does not merely ad- 

C 



18 

init — it demands, excites, and favours the most exten- 
sive and diversified intellectual attainments. 

But, it has pleasures to bestow which amply repay 
all its demands, both upon the body and the mind. 

It gratifies all the senses. 

The feeling is gratified, by its smooth walks, its soft 
banks, the touch of many of its leaves, and fruits, and 
flowers, and by the refreshing coolness of its shades. 

The smell is agreeably excited, from unnumbered 
sources. From the lowliest pot-herb to the stateliest 
tree; from the humble violet and migniocette to the 
splendid tulip and the queenly rose, a garden is the un- 
rivalled repository of fragrance. 

The gratification of the ear, in a garden, is adven- 
titious, not of man's procurement, but nevertheless cer- 
tain and real. The most tasteful of the animal crea- 
tion, in their flight, from one end of the earth to the 
other, discover no spot so alluring to them as a well re- 
plenished garden. The birds are fond of its shade, its 
flowers and its fruit. Amidst these they love to build 
their nests, rear their young, and first win them to that 
element which seems created to be their peculiar field 
of joy. And if they sometimes commit unwelcome in- 
roads upon the delicacies which we prize, they more 
than compensate us by their cheerful and continual songs, 
and by destroying innumerable and more dangerous in- 
truders in the air, in the trees, upon the plants, and on 
the ground. 

The taste finds its choicest regalement in the garden, 
in its sweet roots, its crisp and tender sallads, its nu- 
tritious and acceptable pulse, its pungent and salutary 
condiments, its fragrant and delicious fruits, with a 
countless list of other palatable productions, all exist- 



1^ ~ 

ins; in such inexhaustible variety, that the art of cook- 
ery takes more than half its subjects from that overflow- 
ing store- house. 

But the eye delights in a garden, as if all its la- 
bours, its cares and its knowledge had been dedicated 
to that single sense. From every quarter, and border, 
and arbour; from every bank, and walk, and plant, 
and shrub, and tree; from every single object, every 
group of objects, and every combination of groups, 
spring forms of beauty, fresh, living, well proportion- 
ed, graceful beauty, natural though cultivated, inno- 
cent though gay. 

Horticulture gratifies the higher faculties of our na- 
ture, the intellectual taste, the reason, the heart. 

Doctor Aiken has justly remarked, that "no pleas- 
ure, derived from art, has been so universal as that ta- 
ken in gardens." And from the remark Ave should in- 
fer, what the history of every enlightened people will 
demonstrate, that, on no subject have men exerted them- 
selves more, for the display of taste, than on this. — 
That delicate power of gifted and cultivated minds, 
which almost intuitively discerns, and nicely enjoys, 
all the genuine beauties of nature and art, and turns, 
with sudden disgust, from every species of deformity, 
has always regarded a well stored, well arranged, and 
well dressed garden with peculiar satisfaction. And 
this is, undoubtedly, owing, not solely or chiefly to the 
numberless and exquisite gratifications of sense which 
such a garden affords, but also to the pleasing effect 
which it naturally produces on the imagination, and 
other faculties of the mind. 

All desirable objects which excite the mind without 
fatiguing it, are the sources of agreeable emotion. And 



20 

the senses, which we have seen are all fortnight over to 
be the advocates of Horticulture by most of the wealth 
of nature, of which they can appreciate the value, are, 
in a garden, constantly soliciting the mental faculties. 
The eye particularly, by its delicate susceptibilities, its 
great range, and the number of objects which it can 
embrace at a single glance, is for ever exciting the im- 
agination by the most agreeable appearances which il 
presents, of colour and form, each considered singly in 
all its varieties, and both blended into combinations 
more diversified and more beautiful than even those of 
the kaleidoscope. And the imagination yielding to the 
excitement, calls up the other intellectual powers to par- 
take of her pleasures. Then, the higher joys of taste 
commence : then, the exalted beauties of order, design, 
intelligence, are disclosed : then, objects are viewed in 
reference to their congruity, their contrast, their regu- 
larity, their proportion, their simplicity, their variety, 
their novelty, their beauty, their sublimity, their adap- 
tation to an end, and the value of that end. Each of 
these views introduces a broad theme of agreeable 
contemplation. Collectively they comprehend all the 
charms and glories of the external world ; every thing but 
the moral sense, and the sympathies of the heart. And 
I shall endeavor to show, that they are of vast impor- 
tance to the highest improvement and proper enjoyment 
of these. But, before entering upon that exhibition, 
which necessarily refers to the most comprehensive and 
permanent benefits of which man can be made the par- 
taker, permit me to advert to several of the subordinate 
benefits of Horticulture. 

The proper objects, and pleasures, and uses of Hor- 
ticulture are all beneficial, and are acknowledged to be 



so, universally. And it may well be thought extrat . 
dinary, with this acknowledgment, that societies for 
its promotion were not earlier established. It is not 
surprising that they did not exist among the nations of 
antiquity, because, among them, there was not, in gen- 
eral, indulged to private people sufficient freedom of 
communication and concerted action to permit such in- 
stitutions. Besides, if the inclinations of the common 
people were ever so much in favour of the fruits and 
pleasures of gardening, it was impossible for any to 
cultivate or to enjoy them extensively, but the great 
ones of the earth. They were of too costly a relish 
for general participation. Kings and princes, generals 
and senators, applied to them their power, with emu- 
lous devotion. How would the interests of humanity 
have been promoted if their power had never been worse 
applied ! 

But considering the more enlarged diffusion of wealth 
and freedom, in modern times, it might have been ex- 
pected that associations, in aid of their rational pleas- 
ures, and beneficial uses, would have been sooner com- 
menced and more generally adopted. It is believed 
that no such association existed in the world before, 
the latter end of the last century. Though if their rise 
was late, it was honourable. It is certainly creditable 
to human nature that the first of these institutions pro- 
ceeded from the exalted and liberal motives originating 
in the love of science. Botanical societies paved the 
way for Horticultural societies, and for associations, in 
which the objects of both were happily united. Soon 
after the great northern light of the world of natural 
science shed its benignant beams, with peculiar bril- 
liancy, upon botany, revealing all the recesses of that 



science to the admiring observation of man, societies 
were instituted for its promotion. Several of these ex- 
ist on the continent of Europe, under the patronage of 
men illustrious for science and philanthropy. 

In 1805 a private association for Horticultural ob- 
jects was commenced in London, which was incorpora- 
ted by royal charter, in 1809. In 1803, in Edinburgh, 
a Florist society was instituted, which, in 1809, en- 
larged its views and took the title of the Caledonian 
Horticultural society. At Paisley, in Scotland, a Flo- 
rist society was, some time ago, established, of which 
an eminent writer observes, that " the rearing of beau- 
tiful flowers is found to improve the taste for manufac- 
turing elegant patterns ol fancy muslin ; while the flor- 
ists of Paisley have been long remarked for the peace- 
fulness of their dispositions, and the sobriety of their 
manners. 7 ' 

Several Botanical and Horticultural societies have 
been commenced in the United States, some of which 
are rapidly advancing in importance and respectability. 
The influence of them collectively, and of their several 
scientific and public spirited members, individually, has 
been very perceptible in awakening a general desire for 
the improved cultivation of gardens and pleasure grounds, 
and an increasing love of rural pursuits. One of the 
most useful of these is, the New- York Horticultural 
society, which was originally formed in 1818, though 
not incorporated till 1822. The effects of this society 
are most agreeably manifested in the superior quantity 
and quality of culinary vegetables, fruits and flowers 
to be found in the New- York market ; in the emulation 
excited among actual cultivators ; in the valuable prac- 
tical publications, upon gardening and planting, which 



it has encouraged, and in the public discourses of seve- 
ral of its most intelligent and accomplished members. — 
With these societies, I trust, the institution which we 
are now assembled to originate, will become an active 
and useful fellow laborer. 

The benefits of such associations are numerous and 
of great importance. 

They encourage profitable industry. In the vicini- 
ty of London there are occupied, as fruit and kitchen 
gardens, about 14,000 acres of land, of which the an- 
nual produce is sold for more than 4,000,000 dollars. — 
"Within six miles of Edinburgh, there are computed to 
be 500 acres, occupied in the same way, of which the 
annual produce is worth near 100,000 dollars. For 
the supply of the New- York market with vegetables, 
fruits and flowers, there are cultivated several thousand 
acres of land, of which the aggregate annual produce, 
in the market, is supposed to be near 8 400,000. The 
portions of earth thus cultivated, are far more produc- 
tive than any other equal portions of land in the coun- 
tries where they are situated. And they give a healthy 
and virtuous employment to great multitudes of human 
beings. 

They promote important practical knowledge, by 
the inquiries which they stimulate, and the competition 
which they inspire. They lead to the institution of an 
immense number of more skilful and careful processes 
of cultivation than are previously followed, from some 
of which advantageous results may be reasonably anti- 
cipated. And by conversation, by writing, by public 
addresses, and every other method of communicating 
knowledge, every advantageous result will immediately 
be shared by the whole community. 



34 

They create a new spirit of Horticultural and bo- 
tanical enterprise. In our country, a necessary and 
most desirable consequence of this will be, that we shall 
obtain a complete acquaintance with all our iudigenous 
vegetables. From the east and from the west, from the 
north and from the south, our native plants will all be 
gathered. Every swamp, and every valley, every plain 
and every mountain, which is surveyed by the Ameri- 
can eagle, in his widest flight, will be made tributary, 
with all its vegetable wealthy to the great interests of 
science and humanity. 

The science of Horticulture is capable of great im- 
provement, even in those countries where it has been 
most sedulously fostered. Recently, by the application 
of scientific ingenuity, better apples and pears are said 
to have been originated in England and Flanders, than 
any before known. And those countries, now vastly in 
advance of us in Horticulture, are making new discov- 
eries and acquisitions from year to year. The finest 
fruits and plants we now cultivate ; those which are es- 
sential to comfort, as well as those which minister to 
luxury, are not natives of our country. Our potatoes, 
peaches, pears, and the better kinds of plums, cherries 
and apples, have been all brought to us from abroad. — 
And we are not yet in possession of a tithe of the nu- 
tritious and desirable fruits and plants with which the 
earth is stored. In relation to all these, inquiry and 
competition, suggested and aided by the combined in- 
telligence, applause, and other rewards of public asso- 
ciations, will be beneficial. By these means an exten- 
sive acquaintance with the most esteemed Horticultural 
productions, of every country, will be obtained ; and 
the most sagacious and persevering use of all the means 



35 

necessary for their acquisition, will be adopted. Call- 
ing in the aid of men of science, of amateurs, and cul- 
tivators, both at home and abroad, such societies may 
become the fortunate instruments of disseminatiug, uni- 
versally, every valuable seed, and plant, and tree, 
which is borne upon the prolific bosom of the earth. 

The tendencies of such associations are all liberal, 
and philanthropic, and social. By uniting gentlemen 
of all classes, professions and opinions in the prosecu- 
tion of interesting and commendable objects, the amia- 
ble and elegant courtesies of life will be extended. — 
Their stated meetings will be embellished by taste, in- 
telligence, and festive refinement ; and all will go away 
from them with a keener relish of the beauties of nature, 
and a more cheerful devotion to rural employments. 

By promoting the knowledge and the love of na- 
ture, they are calculated to improve the conduct of life, 
and the sympathies of the heart. The pleasures of 
gardening are retired, peaceful, calm. They are equal- 
ly suitable to the gayety of advancing, and the gravity 
of declining, life. How much the pure attachment to 
home is strengthened, in the hearts of children, by uni- 
ting their exertions, their solicitudes, and their tastes in 
the various decorations of the garden ! Impressions 
formed at home, decide the future character. And can 
it be that these sympathetic impressions, upon the do- 
mestic affections, are not beneficial to moral conduct? 
Ask the sons and daughters of those who have been able 
to indulge their taste for ornamental shrubbery and gar- 
dening, when they are withdrawn from the paternal 
roof, what objects are most vividly and tenderly associ- 
ated, in their minds, with those whom they most love, 

and you will soon learn the value of the shady walk, 

T) 



lb 

the bursting bud, ami the fragrant arbour. One of the 
most pathetic passages of English poetry, is Eve's fare- 
well to the garden of Eden. 

a MUST I thus leave thee, Paradise ? thus leave 
Thee, native soil ! these happy walks and shades, 
Fit haunt of Gods ? where I had hope to spend, 
Quiet though sad, the respite of that day 
That must be mortal to us both. O flowers, 
That never will in other climate grow, 
My early visitation, and my last 
At even, which I bred up with tender hand 
From the first op'ning bud, and gave ye names! 
Who now shall rear ye to the sun, or rank 
Your tribes, and water from th' ambrosial fount r 
Thee, lastly, nuptial bower ! by me adorn'd, 
With what to sight or smell was sweet ! from thee 
How shall I part, and whither wander down 
Into a lower world ; to this obscure 
And wild? How shall we breathe in other air 
Less pure, accustom'd to immortal fruits ?" 

To old age the employments of Horticulture are de- 
lightful and appropriate. They afford a secure retreat 
from the noise, turbulence, ingratitude, and fierce con- 
tentions of a stormy world ; and inspire serenity and 
cheerfulness. Cicero, in his letters to Atticus, speaks 
of them as the best remedy for grief and concern of 
mind. In a thousand ways a garden serves to keep 
fresh and elastic the springs and sympathies of life. — 
The heart finds interesting remembrances, and soothing 
society, in all its objects. That shade is most refresh- 
ing, which is afforded by trees of our own planting : 
that fruit is most delicious, which we have most fre- 
quently participated with our friends : those flowers 
have the brightest bloom, which have been the joy, and 
the ornament of our wives and children. 



an 

Horticulture is favourable to universal charity, to 
virtuous reflection, and to the highest attainments of 
which the soul of man is capable. Surrounded with 
fragrance, and harmony, and beauty, and order, all 
giving witness to the attributes of their Great Creator, 
that heart must be dreadfully perverse which is not spon- 
taneously filled with gladness and gratitude for such ac- 
cumulated blessings. And these sentiments naturally 
dispose us to regard, with the most cordial complacen- 
cy, all the works of the same hand. 

Of all organized beings, trees, and leaves, and flow- 
ers, appear to me to afford the most obvious traces of 
the intelligence and goodness of God. A very small 
portion of knowledge and curiosity is sufficient to dis- 
cern the marks of design in their structure ; and still 
less, to apprehend the tendency of that design. They 
minister to so many of our essential wants, our habitu- 
al comforts, and our innocent enjoyments, that their 
signature of goodness is legible to all. And whoever 
reads it must feel himself summoned, not violently and 
clamorously, but silently and most attractively, to those 
reflections which improve the heart. 

The best precepts of earthly philosophy, and the 
hallowed instructions of heavenly wisdom, have found 
the most propitious seats for their inculcation in gardens. 
Socrates was accustomed to teach, in one, upon the 
banks of the Cephisus ; and Jesus, in another, upon 
those of the Cedron. The most interesting events that 
ever have occurred, or that ever can occur, on this side 
of the grave, have taken place in Gardens. In one, the 
shadow of death first fell upon the human race: in 
another, the glorious light of immortal life, breaking 
through that shadow, first beamed upon the world ! 



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